Former Navy electronics technician Kevin A. Dew Jr. told a judge today that he intends to resume being the "person he once was" once he finishes his 30-month sentence for robbing the Navy Federal Credit Union.

"I understand there are consequences to the actions I've committed," Dew said. "...Things just got way out of control very fast."

Dew, who was stationed at the Naval Submarine Base and owned a home in New London with his wife, walked into an off-base credit union branch on Sailfish Drive in Groton on Sept. 4, 2012, and handed a teller a plastic bag and a note that said, "I have a gun. Put the money in the bag," according to prosecutor Lawrence J. Tytla.

The teller was able to slip a GPS device into the bag among the bills, and police used it to locate and apprehend Dew a short time later in the outbound lane of the base's main gate. The $5,600 was in the car, and there was an unregistered .32 caliber Kel-Tec pistol in the center console, loaded with five rounds of ammunition but with no round in the chamber, Tytla said.

"There was no actual evidence the gun was carried into the robbery," said Tytla.

During a presentencing interview with a probation officer, Dew said that he had been having an affair and was being extorted for money under the threat that they would tell his wife, Tytla said.

Dew, represented by attorney Keith Murray, had pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery and faced up to three years in prison. Murray asked Judge Susan B. Handy to reduce the sentence based on Dew's outstanding Naval record, his character and his lack of a prior criminal record. He said the crime was an aberration for Dew, albeit a serious one.

"He has never once asked me to 'get him off,'" Murray said. "He has always accepted responsibility."

The judge said it was hard for her to believe that Dew, who had a great career and owned a home, had robbed a bank. She also noted that while the case was pending he had been charged with walking out of Waterford Wal-Mart store without paying for a Blue Ray/DVD player and a computer printer.

"You have been a productive member of society your entire life until you robbed a bank," the judge said. "You robbed a bank."

She reduced the recommended sentence by six months, sentencing Dew to eight years in prison, suspended after 30 months served and three years probation.

Dew was given an "other than honorable" discharge from the Navy following his arrest, according to Tytla. Editor's note: This corrects an earlier version of this paragraph.